Twenty years after the tragic death of German backpacker Simone Strobel in Lismore, New South Wales, the case remains one of Australia’s most haunting unsolved mysteries. On November 6, 2025, State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan delivered the findings of a second inquest, reigniting hope for justice and closure among Strobel’s family, friends, and the Lismore community. Yet, for all the renewed attention, the answers to what happened on that fateful night in February 2005 remain elusive.
Simone Strobel, a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from Rieden, Bavaria, had been traveling around Australia with her boyfriend, Tobias Suckfuell (now known as Tobias Moran), his sister Katrin Suckfuell, and their friend Jens Martin. The group arrived in Lismore in early 2005, staying at the Lismore Tourist Caravan Park. On the evening of February 11, CCTV captured the group outside a hotel in the city’s CBD, marking the last sighting of Simone alive. Later that night, her companions reported that she left the campsite, and by the next morning, she was missing.
Six days later, the search ended in heartbreak. Simone’s naked body was discovered by a police dog, hidden under palm fronds at a bocce court, less than 100 meters from the campsite. The shock that rippled through Lismore was palpable. According to ABC News, then-councillor and later mayor Jenny Dowell recalled, “There was a feeling of great shame, huge grief and suspicion, worry and all those sort of things. It was an incredible time.” The community rallied, with locals donating money and leaving flowers and tributes at the site of her death. A memorial bench now stands near where Simone was found, a quiet testament to a life cut short and a community’s enduring sorrow.
The initial investigation, led by the Richmond Police District under Strike Force Howea, worked closely with German authorities. Rewards for information were offered—$1 million in New South Wales and 10,000 euros in Germany—but despite these efforts, leads ran dry. An autopsy failed to determine a cause of death; both Australian and German forensic pathologists could find no injuries or pathology to explain how Simone died. The 2007 inquest found “very strong suspicion that Tobias Suckfuell and maybe Katrin Suckfuell were involved,” but concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. The case, it seemed, would languish in uncertainty.
Years passed, but the pain did not diminish. In 2022, a dramatic development saw Tobias Moran arrested and charged with Simone’s murder and with perverting the course of justice. The news sent shockwaves through both Australia and Germany. However, by 2023, the charges were dropped without explanation, and Moran was awarded $190,000 in compensation. Moran, who changed his name in 2012 after marrying an Australian woman, has always maintained his innocence. As he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “Her honor’s referral of the case to unsolved homicide gives me hope that this case will be given the fair and unbiased investigation Simone always deserved. A review of the case by independent police, with a focus on outstanding DNA testing, is something I have been requesting for years, as I want nothing more than to see the real perpetrators who took Simone’s life brought to justice.”
The second inquest, held in late 2024, brought new scrutiny to the evidence. Coroner O’Sullivan heard testimony from detectives, forensic experts, and the Strobel family. The findings, delivered this month, rejected the earlier inquest’s suspicions of Moran’s involvement. O’Sullivan stated it was “unlikely” that Moran or his sister were involved, and “unlikely” Moran could have acted alone in killing and disposing of Simone’s body. But she stopped short of officially ruling out Moran’s involvement, writing, “I do not, however, accept that the evidence goes so far as to support a finding by me that it is very unlikely Mr. Moran was involved in Simone’s death.”
Crucially, the coroner concluded that Simone Strobel died by homicide at the hands of an unknown person or persons. The findings diverged from the 2007 inquest in another significant way: O’Sullivan found it likely that the killer was driven by a sexual motive. “It is likely Simone’s killer had a sexual motive,” she wrote, noting that her clothes were probably removed for this reason before her body was concealed. However, the coroner could not definitively find that Simone was sexually assaulted and did not rule it out. This contrasts with the earlier inquest, which explicitly ruled out sexual assault and motive.
The inquest also highlighted the limitations of forensic science at the time of the original investigation. O’Sullivan recommended that the case be handed over to the New South Wales Homicide Squad’s unsolved homicide team. She specifically directed them to review male DNA found on Simone’s black top and to conduct further mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis on hair recovered during the investigation. She also urged that further expert opinion be sought on the cause of death, given that autopsy reports had failed to provide a clear answer.
For Simone’s family, the lack of closure is a wound that refuses to heal. In a statement shared at a memorial vigil in Lismore this February, marking 20 years since her death, the family expressed their gratitude for the compassion shown by the local community: “We are very committed to you from the bottom of our hearts for everything your community has done for us and the memory of Simone. We cannot thank you enough. Friends are angels who help us get back on our feet when our wings have forgotten how to fly.” Coroner O’Sullivan, too, acknowledged their pain: “The trauma of losing a loved one in these circumstances and in a foreign country is unimaginable, and the family still do not have the answers that they are so desperately seeking.”
The Lismore community continues to feel the impact of Simone’s death. As former mayor Dowell told the ABC, “That is an awful, awful feeling to think that a young person has travelled around the world for an adventure of a lifetime and they’ve come to an end in our city.” The memory of Simone Strobel endures not just in the hearts of those who knew her, but in the collective conscience of a town that has never forgotten.
As the case is now referred once more to the New South Wales Unsolved Homicide Team, there is a renewed sense of determination to finally uncover the truth. The hope is that advances in DNA technology, a fresh investigative approach, and the enduring commitment of all those touched by Simone’s story will, at last, bring answers—and justice—for a life so senselessly lost.
